A Chinese Christian Leader Speaks Out
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NOTE: The following are extracts from a wonderful book, ‘The Heavenly Man’ by Brother
Yun – one of the House-church leaders from China who has been imprisoned and tortured
for his faith. He is speaking here of what it will take for the Western church to see revival:
Part 1 – CHINESE LEADER SPEAKS OUT – Re: “Revival in the West”
By Brother Yun.
Many pastors in Europe and America have told me they want to see great revival. I’m
frequently asked why China is experiencing revival but most places in the West are not.
This is a big question to answer, but some reasons are very apparent to me.
When I’m in the West, I see all the mighty church buildings and all the expensive
equipment, plush carpets, and state-of-the-art sound systems. I can assure the Western
church with absolute certainty that you don’t need any more church buildings. Church
buildings will never bring the revival you seek. The pursuit of more possessions will never
bring revival. Jesus truly stated, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his
possessions.” -Lk 12:15.
The first thing needed for revival to return to your churches is the Word of the Lord. God’s
Word is missing. Sure, there are many preachers and thousands of tapes and videos of
Bible teaching, but so little contains the sharp truth of God’s Word. It’s the truth that will
set you free.
Not only is knowledge of God’s Word missing, but obedience to that Word. There’s not
much action taking place.
When revival came to believers in China, the result was thousands of evangelists being
sent out to all corners of the nation, carrying fire from the altar of God with them. When
God moves in the West, it seems you want to stop and enjoy His presence and blessings
too long, and build an altar to your experiences.
You can never really know the Scriptures until you’re willing to be changed by them.
All genuine revivals of the Lord result in believers responding with action and soul
winning. When God truly moves in your heart you cannot remain silent. There will be a
fire in your bones, like Jeremiah, who said, “His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut
up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” Jeremiah 20:9.
Furthermore, it’s only when we step out in obedience and sharethe gospel with people
that we come to know God’s blessing in every area of our lives. That is why the Apostle
Paul wrote to his co-worker Philemon, “I pray that you may be active in sharing your
faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Philemon v.6.
I’ve seen people in Western Churches worshiping as if they’re already in heaven. Then
someone invariably brings a comforting message, like, “My children, I love you. Don’t be
afraid, I’m with you.” I’m not opposed to such words, but why is it that nobody seems to
hear a Word from the Lord like, “My child, I want to send you to the slums of Asia or the
darkness of Africa to be my messenger to people dying in their sin.”?
[From ‘The Heavenly Man’ – pg 296-297.]
Book available from ‘Amazon.com’ and other outlets.
Part 2 – CHINESE LEADER SPEAKS OUT
By Brother Yun.
Before I travelled to the West I had absolutely no idea that so many churches were
spiritually asleep. I presumed the Western church was strong and vibrant because it had
brought the gospel to my country with such incredible faith and tenacity. Many
missionaries had shown a powerful example to us by laying down their lives for the sake
of Jesus.
On some occasions I’ve struggled while speaking in Western churches. There seems to be
something missing that leaves me feeling terrible inside. Many meetings are cold and and
lack the fire and presence of God that we have in China.
In the West many Christians have an abundance of material possessions, yet they live in a
backslidden state. They have silver and gold, but they don’t rise up and walk in Jesus’
name. In China, we have no possessions to hold us down, so there’s nothing preventing
us from moving out for the Lord. The Chinese church is like Peter at the Beautiful Gate.
When he saw the crippled beggar he said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I
give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”
In a similar way, I pray that God might use the Chinese church to help the Western
church rise up and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s almost impossible for the
church in China to go to sleep in its present situation. There’s always something to keep
us on the run, and it’s very difficult to sleep while you’re running. If persecution stops, I
fear we’ll become complacent and all asleep.
In THE WEST…
Multitudes of church members are satisfied with giving their minimum to God, not their
maximum. I’ve watched men and women during offering time in church. They open their
fat wallets and search for the smallest amount they can give. This type of attitude will
never do! Jesus gave his whole life for us, and we give as little of our lives, time, and
money as we can give back to God. What a disgrace! Repent!
This may sound strange, but I even miss the offerings we used to give in China. On
numerous occasions, the leader of a meeting would announce, “We have a new worker
who is leaving tomorrow to serve the Lord.” Immediately every single person would
completely empty their pockets of everything they had. With that money, the worker
would buy a train or bus ticket and leave the next day.
Often this money was not just everything we had in our pockets at that time, but
everything we owned in the whole world.
Just because you have a church building doesn’t necessarily mean Jesus is with you. He is
not welcome in many churches today. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, “Here I am! I stand
at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and
dine with him, and he with me.”
Often this verse is used as an invitation for salvation, but actually the context Jesus was
speaking in was very different. He was standing outside the door of the church of
Laodicea, knocking to get in!
[From Yun’s book ‘THE HEAVENLY MAN’, pg 295-298.]
Part 3 – CHINESE LEADER SPEAKS OUT
-Brother Yun.
The Great Commission has not changed. There are many churches trying to create a
heaven here on earth, but until the Western Church obeys the Great Commission and
takes the gospel to the ends of the earth, people are just playing with God and are not
really serious about the truth. Many churches look beautiful on the outside, but are dead
where it counts, on the inside. If you truly want to see God move, the two main things
you must do is learn the Word of God and have the obedience to do what God tells you to
do.
In Finland in 1999 I was asked to be one of the main speakers at a conference attended
by about one thousand church leaders. The main speaker was a well-known American
preacher. Every time he spoke it was about the love and goodness of God. During the
prayer time everyone fell down on the floor and laughed.
After I spoke I commanded people to kneel down at the foot of the cross of Jesus, and
they wept! Tears always come first before the Lord truly moves. He will never pour his
blessing out on unsanctified and selfish flesh. The cross of Jesus must be at the center of
everything we do.
If you do these things you will see revival. Are you willing to give your all to God and to
His service? “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those
who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” -Daniel 12:3.
Many Christians have also asked me why miracles and signs and wonders are so prevalent
in China, but not so evident in the West.
In the West you have so much. You have insurance for everything. In a way, you don’t
need God. When my father was dying of stomach cancer, we sold everything we had to
try to cure him. When everything was gone, we had no hope but God. We turned to Him
in desperation and saw Him mercifully answer our prayers and heal my father. We reasoned
that if God could do that then He could do anything, so our faith grew and we’ve seen
many miracles.
In China, the greatest miracles we see are not the healings or other things, but lives
transformed by the gospel. We believe we’re not called to follow signs and wonders but
instead the signs and wonders follow us when the gospel is preached. We don’t keep our
eyes on the signs and wonders; we keep our eyes on Jesus.
Every house church pastor in China is ready to lay down his life for the gospel. When we
live this way, we’ll see God do great things by his grace.
[From the book ‘The Heavenly Man’, pg 298-300.]
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